Agriculture (Houses of the Oireachtas)

Agriculture - Afforestation - programme

Sitting date: 18/10/2017
[Written Answers]...his plans to remove the 20% rule on planting unenclosed land and replace it with a system that assesses productivity and environmental suitability for forestry; the evidence used to calculate the 20% figure; and if other European countries have such a rule. [Q. No(s) 166 to Minis...

Agriculture - Afforestation - programme

Sitting date: 18/10/2017
[Written Answers] In 2010, a change was made in Ireland’s scheme rules that limited the amount of unenclosed land in any one afforestation application to 20%. Unenclosed land is usually found in upland areas and is generally less fertile than enclosed or improved land found at lower elevations. Th...

Agriculture - Afforestation - programme

Sitting date: 18/10/2017
[Written Answers]...the number of farmers and non farmers participating in planting schemes under the forest programme 2014 to 2020. [Q. No(s) 167 to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine ]

Agriculture - Afforestation - programme

Sitting date: 18/10/2017
[Written Answers] My Department publishes annual afforestation statistics which are available on its website. Those statistics include numbers of farmers and non-farmers who participate in afforestation each year. Those numbers are set out in the following table, for 2014 to 2016, which are the mo...

Agriculture - Greyhound industry - issues relating to

Sitting date: 18/10/2017
[Written Answers]...the persons that presently work in the greyhound industry, in tabular form. [Q. No(s) 164 to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine ]

Agriculture - Greyhound industry - issues relating to

Sitting date: 18/10/2017
[Written Answers] Bord na gCon is a commercial State body, established under the Greyhound Industry Act, 1958, chiefly to control greyhound racing and to improve and develop the greyhound industry. Bord na gCon is a body corporate and a separate legal entity to the Department of Agriculture, Food...

Agriculture - Afforestation - programme

Sitting date: 17/10/2017
[Written Answers]...his views on the reintroduction of farm forest premium differentials; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [Q. No(s) 439 to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine ]

Agriculture - Afforestation - programme

Sitting date: 17/10/2017
[Written Answers] The current forestry programme does not differentiate between a “farmer” and “non-farmer” but targets funding at all landowners who wish to convert lands to forestry. It is important to note that the non-farmer category also includes recently retired farmers and the family members...

Agriculture - Afforestation - programme

Sitting date: 17/10/2017
[Written Answers]...if there is a way to proportionally compensate farmers for the land they are obliged to set aside for environmental enhancement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [Q. No(s) 440 to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine ]

Agriculture - Afforestation - programme

Sitting date: 17/10/2017
[Written Answers] I understand that this question relates to land set aside as part of a forestry application. I believe the existing provisions to pay landowners for areas left unplanted for environmental reasons are proportionate and adequate. Under the current Environmental Requirements for Af...

Agriculture - Afforestation - programme

Sitting date: 17/10/2017
[Written Answers]...his plans to fund the establishment of a national network of forest producer groups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [Q. No(s) 442 to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine ]

Agriculture - Afforestation - programme

Sitting date: 17/10/2017
[Written Answers] The Forestry Programme 2014-2020 includes a specific measure to fund the establishment of new producer groups for private forest owners. Applicants would need to submit a detailed business plan providing a description of the project, including objectives, timelines and projected e...

Agriculture - Beef data and genomics programme - issues relating to

Sitting date: 17/10/2017
[Written Answers]...if there will be an increase in funding of at least €25 million in the beef data and genomics programme bringing it to €200 per animal (details supplied). [Q. No(s) 420 to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine ]

Agriculture - Beef data and genomics programme - issues relating to

Sitting date: 17/10/2017
[Written Answers] I am very conscious of the importance of the suckler herd to the Irish economy and agri-food sector in particular. I have been very active in highlighting the potentially very damaging impact of a Mercosur deal on the European and Irish beef sectors and in turn potential impact o...

Agriculture - Forest roads scheme - issues relating to

Sitting date: 17/10/2017
[Written Answers]...his plans to reduce red tape in the forest road scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [Q. No(s) 441 to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine ]

Agriculture - Forest roads scheme - issues relating to

Sitting date: 17/10/2017
[Written Answers] The Forest Road Scheme is offered to farmers to facilitate harvesting of their crop of trees. The scheme which grant aids farmers to build private forest roads on their holding is important to enable the sector to fully mobilise the volume of timber in private hands. Currently...

Agriculture - Forestry - data

Sitting date: 17/10/2017
[Written Answers]...the planting targets in hectares per year on an annual basis in each of the years 2010 to 2016 and to date in 2017, in tabular form; the number of hectares planted in each year; and the number of hectares planted out of each annual target set on a percentage basis. [Q. No(s) 416 ...

Agriculture - Forestry - data

Sitting date: 17/10/2017
[Written Answers] The National Development Plan 2007-2013 set out planting targets for the period 2007 - 2013 at 10,000 ha per annum. The figure for 2014 is based on the maximum planting level achievable within the budget provided that year, which was 7,000 ha. Targets for 2015 - 2020 are set out ...

Agriculture - Forestry sector - issues relating to

Sitting date: 17/10/2017
[Written Answers]...his views on removing the restrictions on planting productive marginal land to insure greater regional spread; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [Q. No(s) 438 to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine ]

Agriculture - Forestry sector - issues relating to

Sitting date: 17/10/2017
[Written Answers] Most productive marginal land is already eligible for planting and many farmers avail of the generous grants and premiums on offer to plant their productive marginal land. There are some restrictions on planting land in designated areas and other environmentally sensitive areas. ...

Agriculture - Herd data - issues relating to

Sitting date: 17/10/2017
[Written Answers]...the number of beef suckler cows and dairy cows respectively based on latest data, in each of the years 2010 to 2016 and to date in 2017, in tabular form. [Q. No(s) 415 to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine ]

Agriculture - Herd data - issues relating to

Sitting date: 17/10/2017
[Written Answers] The Irish beef and dairy herds make an enormous contribution to the value of Ireland’s agri-food industry. Since 2010, the value of Irish beef exports has increased from €1.57 billion to €2.38 billion, the value of dairy exports has increased from €2.27 billion to €3.82 billion. ...

Agriculture - Industry - issues relating to

Sitting date: 17/10/2017
[Written Answers]...the number of persons directly and indirectly involved in agriculture and agriculture related employment in each of the years 2011 to 2016 and to date in 2017, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [Q. No(s) 436 to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the ...

Agriculture - Industry - issues relating to

Sitting date: 17/10/2017
[Written Answers] The CSO published four Quarterly National Household Surveys (QNHS) for 2016, the fourth of which was released in February 2017. These showed that employment in the agri-food sector overall, including all its component parts, averaged 173,400 throughout the year. The agri-food s...

Agriculture - Schemes - issues relating to

Sitting date: 17/10/2017
[Written Answers]...the supports and schemes available to a person that is setting up their own milk processing unit based on local suppliers for tillage and basing their output on nutritional value rather than yield; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [Q. No(s) 447 to Minister for Agric...

Agriculture - Schemes - issues relating to

Sitting date: 17/10/2017
[Written Answers] Under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS II) a suite of seven measures are available. Support is available under the following measures: - Young Farmers Capital Investment Scheme; - Dairy Equipment Scheme; - Organic Capital Investment Scheme; - Animal ...

Agriculture - Tillage sector - issues relating to

Sitting date: 17/10/2017
[Written Answers]...if he has examined ways in which to limit reliance on imported genetically modified crops to support tillage farming here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [Q. No(s) 448 to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine ]

Agriculture - Tillage sector - issues relating to

Sitting date: 17/10/2017
[Written Answers] In Ireland, up to 80% of animal feed for ruminants is provided by grass, hay and silage, complemented where appropriate, by compound feeds. In the case of pigs and poultry, virtually all their nutrition is derived from compound feeds. Ireland imports approx 2.8 million tonnes (20...

Agriculture - Afforestation - programme

Sitting date: 12/10/2017
[Written Answers]...if the 20% rule on planting unenclosed land and replacing it with a system that assesses productivity and environmental suitability for forestry will be removed; the evidence base that was based at formulating the 20% figure; if other member states have such a rule; and if they a...

Agriculture - Afforestation - programme

Sitting date: 12/10/2017
[Written Answers] The Department's Land Types for Afforestation document, released in March 2016, sets out a system to assess the productivity of land for afforestation. This system is based on the scoring of various indicator plant species and is derived from previous work spearheaded by Teagasc. ...